Shepherd's Notes: Matthew

By Dana Gould

You grew up using the well known black and yellow striped Cliff's Notes to help you grasp everything from great literary works to algebra. Unfortunately, what "Cliff" forgot was the greatest literary work in history: the complete Holy Bible. Enjoy the ease of understanding the Bible like never before, book by book. Shepherd's notes helps reader's learn about the inspired authors of the Bible books and when and where they were first penned. Each Bible book is revealed in simple understandable steps that outline and underscore the focal points and personalities of the biblical text. You'll look to these unique books for their use in Bible studies, teaching, personal devotions and even in sermon preparation! Christian and home schools will find Shepherd's Notes an invaluable resource.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BH Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 1, 1997
• ISBN: 9781433670602

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

The Gospel of Matthew has likely influenced more people than any other Christian book. Its role of influence probably began with its acceptance by Antioch, a great early Christian center. The greater use of Matthew comes in part from its first-place position in the New Testament. Also, only Matthew contains the Sermon on the Mount.

AUTHOR

Early in the first century A.D., a Christian writer wrote this account of Jesus' life and teachings. This Gospel, like all four canonical Gospels, is anonymous. Nowhere in the Gospel does it actually disclose its author. Early tradition, however, attributed the work to Matthew, one of Jesus' twelve apostles.

AUDIENCE

Early Church tradition meshes with the style and contents of the Gospel to suggest that Matthew wrote to a Jewish-Christian audience. It is difficult to narrow down the destination any further. A few ancient sources favored Palestine, perhaps Jerusalem. Modern scholars often propose Syria, particularly Antioch.

PURPOSE

Matthew most likely wrote his Gospel for several reasons. (1) He wanted to convince non-Christian Jews of the truth of Christianity. (2) He sought to explain to Christians how their religion is the fulfillment of God's promises and patterns of activity in the Old Testament. (3) He wanted to give young believers basic instruction in Christian living. (4) He wanted to encourage his church in the midst of persecution from hostile authorities in both Jewish and Roman circles. (5) He desired to deepen Christian faith by supplying more details about Jesus' words and works.

DATE AND PLACE OF WRITING

Hostility between the Jews and Jesus' followers on the pages of the Gospel has suggested to many that Matthew's Jewish-Christian church had decisively broken from the (non-Christian) synagogue. This often leads to dating of the Gospel to the mid-80s or later, after the synagogues allegedly introduced a curse on heretics (including Christians) into their liturgy of prayers. Quotations from the Apostolic Fathers suggests an upper limit for the dating around A.D. 100. As a result, most Bible scholars believe Matthew's Gospel was written about A.D. 80 to 90.

DISTINCTIVES IN MATTHEW'S GOSPEL

Several distinctive characteristics are evident in Matthew.

Because of its position, it is the most widely read book in the New Testament and has exerted the greatest influence on the world.

Ten parables appear in Matthew that are not found in the other Gospels: the wheat and the weeds, the hidden treasure, the dragnet, the pearl of great price, the unmerciful servant, the laborers in the vineyard, the two sons, the wedding feast of the king's son, the ten maidens, and the talents.

The only two parables recorded involving money are found in Matthew's Gospel: the unmerciful servant, the laborers in the vineyard.

Of the four Gospels, only Matthew's makes specific mention of the Church.

Matthew stressed last things, the coming of the end time.

MATTHEW 1

HEADING (1:1)

This heading introduces the main character of Matthew's Gospel and describes His identity in terms of His Jewish heritage. The titles Christ, Son of David, and Son of Abraham held high significance for Matthew's audience.

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Matthew's Titles for Jesus

Christ. This is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew term Messiah, which means the anointed one.

Son of David. Points to the Messiah's link to Israel's most honored king and the fact that He is to be of royal blood.

Son of Abraham. Traces Jesus' lineage back to the founding father of the nation of Israel.

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RECORD OF JESUS' ANCESTRY (1:2-17)

Purpose of Matthew's Record

Many people skip over the genealogies of the Bible. After all, lists of obscure, long-dead people are not very interesting. But Matthew had a definite purpose in starting his Gospel with Jesus' genealogy. The linear genealogy, which Matthew uses, seeks to show that the final person listed has a legitimate right to the position of honor the person occupies. Matthew wanted to establish Jesus as a legitimate descendant of David and rightful candidate for the messianic throne.

Structure of the Record

He divides the genealogy into three general sections (of fourteen entries), each covering a phase of Jewish history. The first section spans Abraham to David, the greatest king of Israel (vv. 2-6). The second section covers Jewish history from the time of David's son Solomon to the Babylonian exile (vv. 7-11). The third section includes the time up until the coming of Jesus, the Savior of all people (vv. 12-18).

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The inclusion of these four women shows (1) that God can use all kinds of people, even those who are conspicuously imperfect, in the carrying out of His plan and (2) that we see the solidarity of Jesus with sinful humanity. Jesus came to sinful human beings in order to break down barriers between God and human beings, Jew and Gentile, male and female, and the righteous and the unrighteous.

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Special Features of the Record

Matthew's genealogy contains several points of special interest.

Mention of Four Women. Contrary to Jewish tradition, Matthew includes four women in his genealogy. Moreover, these were not women one might expect to be included. Tamar was an adulteress (v. 3). Ruth, a Moabitess, was not a Jew (v. 5). Rahab was a harlot (v. 5), and Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, had been wrongfully taken by David (v. 6). The factor that clearly applies to all four is that suspicions of illegitimacy surrounded their sexual activity and childbearing.

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Virgin Birth

The virgin birth of Jesus is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Isaiah 7:14 tells us: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him ‘Immanuel.’

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This suspicion fits perfectly with the circumstances that surrounded Mary, so Matthew immediately takes pains to refute it. In fact, the grammar of verse 16 makes clear that Joseph was not the human father of Jesus. The pronoun whom is feminine and therefore can refer only to Mary as the human parent of the Christ child.

Joseph as Jesus' Legal Father. Matthew, true to Jewish custom, traces Jesus' descent through Joseph, even though Joseph was not Jesus' real father. According to Jewish Law, however, Joseph, as Mary's husband, was Jesus' legal father.

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Magi were wise men, priests, and astrologers who were students of the heavens and interpreters of dreams. Joseph and Mary received a visit from Magi whose interpretation of the stars led them to Palestine to find and honor the newborn King. They may have come from Babylon, Persia, or the Arabian desert.

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THE BIRTH OF JESUS THE MESSIAH (1:18-25)

Matthew begins his Gospel by recounting selected events surrounding Jesus' birth (about 4-6 B.C.). The rest of Matthew's infancy narrative is comprised of five quotations from the Old Testament and the stories that illustrate five ways those texts were fulfilled in Jesus (1:18-2:23). The first of these fulfillments is the virginal conception of Jesus. Matthew's account of Jesus' birth is written from Joseph's viewpoint. In contrast, Luke's Gospel narrates the event from Mary's point of view.

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Matthew sees in the coming of Jesus the complete fulfillment of Isa. 7:14. That prophecy calls the son who would be born Immanuel, meaning God with us.

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The Gifts of the Wise Men

Gold—the symbol of kingship.

Frankincense-associated with holiness and worship.

Myrrh—used in embalming the dead.

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QUESTIONS TO GUIDE YOUR STUDY

What is the value of Matthew's genealogical record to us?

What do the record's special features reveal?

How do Old Testament prophecies support Jesus' birth as that of the Messiah?

MATTHEW 2

Matthew opens this chapter by providing the time and place of Jesus' birth, which took place approximately five miles south of Jerusalem, at the time when Herod was king.

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The Magi

Verses 4-6 contain the second of Matthew's five fulfillment quotations of prophecy: But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times (Mic. 5:2).

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VISIT FROM THE WISE MEN (2:1-12)

A group of wise men, or Magi, journeyed from the East to pay homage to the newborn Jewish king. We don't know how many were in the group. The traditional idea that there were three stems from the mention of three kinds of gifts.

This unusual event occurred close to the time of Jesus' birth, but its exact time is unknown. These men studied the heavens and had seen a new star which they interpreted as heralding the birth of the long-hoped-for Messiah of the Jews.

When Herod learned that the wise men were searching for the Jewish king, he became deeply troubled. He was jealous of any threat to his throne. Herod implemented a plan to murder all male infants in an effort to make sure he had killed the new Jewish king. In a dream, God warned the wise men not to go back to Herod. They obeyed God's warning and returned by another route to their home country.

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Dreams in the Bible

In the Ancient Near Eastern world, dreams had great significance. In some cases, they provided information about the future and were used to show the dreamer the right decision to make. The dreams of common people were important to them, but the dreams of kings and holy men or women were important on a national or international scale. As Matthew's narrative shows, God used dreams as a vehicle of revelation in the birth and early days of Jesus.

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This event shows God's intention to bless Gentiles as well as Jews through His Son. The openness and obedience of these